BY Advocate.com Editors

August 25 2009 3:50 PM ET

An Orthodox rabbi in Washington, D.C., is making waves by welcoming not only non-kosher Jews but gay followers as well.

Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld leads Ohev Sholom: The National Synagogue, the oldest continuously operating Orthodox synagogue in the capital, and has taken steps to welcome more followers who may not subscribe to all of the traditions. This includes stopping harsh language against LGBT members.

"Homosexuality is an 'abomination'?" he asks rhetorically in a profile by Advocate contributor James Kirchick for Tablet Magazine. "We don't use that language for eating pork, yet it’s described in the same way as homosexuality."